This is a digital copy of a book that was preserved for generations on library shelves before it was carefully scanned by Google as part of a project
to make the world's books discoverable online.
It has survived long enough for the copyright to expire and the book to enter the public domain. A public domain book is one that was never subject
to copyright or whose legal copyright term has expired. Whether a book is in the public domain may vary country to country. Public domain books
are our gateways to the past, representing a wealth of history, culture and knowledge that's often difficult to discover.
Marks, notations and other marginalia present in the original volume will appear in this file - a reminder of this book's long journey from the
publisher to a library and finally to you.
Usage guidelines
Google is proud to partner with libraries to digitize public domain materials and make them widely accessible. Public domain books belong to the
public and we are merely their custodians. Nevertheless, this work is expensive, so in order to keep providing this resource, we have taken steps to
prevent abuse by commercial parties, including placing technical restrictions on automated querying.
We also ask that you:
+ Make non-commercial use of the files We designed Google Book Search for use by individuals, and we request that you use these files for
personal, non-commercial purposes.
+ Refrain from automated querying Do not send automated queries of any sort to Google's system: If you are conducting research on machine
translation, optical character recognition or other areas where access to a large amount of text is helpful, please contact us. We encourage the
use of public domain materials for these purposes and may be able to help.
+ Maintain attribution The Google "watermark" you see on each file is essential for informing people about this project and helping them find
additional materials through Google Book Search. Please do not remove it.
+ Keep it legal Whatever your use, remember that you are responsible for ensuring that what you are doing is legal. Do not assume that just
because we believe a book is in the public domain for users in the United States, that the work is also in the public domain for users in other
countries. Whether a book is still in copyright varies from country to country, and we can't offer guidance on whether any specific use of
any specific book is allowed. Please do not assume that a book's appearance in Google Book Search means it can be used in any manner
anywhere in the world. Copyright infringement liability can be quite severe.
About Google Book Search
Google's mission is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google Book Search helps readers
discover the world's books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through the full text of this book on the web
at jhttp : //books . qooqle . com/
^Wlob^.,1^ v°
HARVARD COLLEGE
LIBRARY
FROM THE ESTATE OF
HANNAH P. KIMBALL
OF BOSTON
JUNE 23, ig22
Digitized by LjOOQIC
FROM
The Larger Life Library
18 Newbury Street,
Boston, Mass.
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
ON THE
PHENOMENA OF SPIRITUALISM
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
BY THE SAME AUTHOR
The Reality of Psychic
Phenomena
A record of the aeries of scientific
tests carried out by the author in
1915 and 1916 to determine the
amount, direction and nature of the
force used in levitation, and other
Psychic Phenomena.
Liberally illustrated with
diagrams
$2.oo net
E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY
New Yobk
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
FOR THOSE INVESTIGATING THE
PHENOMENA OF SPIRITUALISM
BT
W. J. CRAWFORD, D.Sc
LBCTUBEB IN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, THE MUNICIPAIi TECHNICAL
INSTITUTE, BELFAST; LBCTUBEB IN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING,
QUEEN'S UNIYEBSITT OF BELFAST. AUTHOR OF
"THE BEALITT OF PSYCHIC
PHENOMENA," ETC.
NEW YORK
E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY
681 FIFTH AVENUE
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
y ?Oi iog^, i s.<^
^
HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY
FROM THE ESTATE OF
HANfMH P. KIWSALL
JUNE 23, «922
O
Comxaar, 1918,
Bt B. P. DUTTON & COMPANY
AS ffyto Retervtd
Printed In the United States of America
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS FOR
THOSE INVESTIGATING THE
PHENOMENA OF SPIRITUALISM
THE belief of many thousands of persons,
of whom I am one, is that man survives
death. When he "dies" it is only his material
body that dies. The essential part of him — the
spirit — lives on and functions in a new realm.
He does not alter his human characteristics be-
cause he passes through the change of death,
but he is human in the new world as he is in
this.
The survival of man is not scientifically
proved. It cannot be demonstrated with in-
strumental accuracy- It cannot, at present, be
shown to be true, as a theorem, say in mechan-
ics, can be verified in a laboratory. Until the
day comes when instrumental communication
with the next state is an accomplished fact, it is
l
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
2 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
improbable that there will be anything like gen-
eral acceptance of the reality of survival. At
present it is a matter of individual judgment
and of experience. The time is coming, I think,
when even communication of this kind will come
about as a result of the research which will un-
doubtedly be applied to the whole subject gener-
ally in the years immediately ahead of us, but
that time is not yet. So it is at present impos-
sible to demonstrate the other world's reality
to everybody. Each must find matter for his
own conviction. Each must experiment for
himself and come to his own conclusions. And
such investigation is not easy. Reliable medi-
ums are scarce ; the phenomena even when gen-
uine are subtle and mostly outside the scheme
of things as we know them in this world; there
are fraud and humbug around; there are the
questions of the subconscious mind and various
strata of consciousness, secondary and tertiary
personality, unconscious action of the medium,
telepathy, and so on. So on the whole it
is only to the relatively few that the know-
ledge and conviction can come that survival is
a fact. People generally are afraid that what
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OP SPIRITUALISM 3
may look like a demonstration of survival is not
really so, but is a false deduction from imma-
ture or unknown data. Euclidian proof, to
state it plainly, is impossible for the majority
of people at the present time. But, neverthe-
less, many people whose minds are not blocked
by prejudice and not obsessed by the idea that
the avenues of sense are the only avenues of
knowledge, many obtain very strong evidence
of the reality of the next state if they will but
take the trouble to look for it. Not proof, mind
you, in the sense that the scientist understands
proof, but yet a very strong probability which
may amount to personal conviction. There is
as yet no telephone by means of which we can
ring up our friend who has gone before; we
have to communicate with him in roundabout
and devious ways, ways which are sometimes
troublesome and annoying when we take a
shortsighted view of things, but which are very
wonderful when we take the larger view.
For me the reality of the next state admits
of no doubt. I am as sure that it exists as I am
that I am writing these words at this moment
My personal conviction is the result of a great
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
4 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
amount of experimental and other investiga-
tion into the phenomena of mediumship, the na-
ture of some of which the reader may under-
stand from a perusal of my work "The Reality
of Psychic Phenomena. ' ' When I set out on the
investigation I daresay I was as skeptical as
anybody of the actuality of these things; but
years of experimental study have entirely al-
tered my convictions. I am, as I say, perf ectly
certain that all humanity, of whatever race or
creed, survives death and passes at once into
another state of existence or plane of being.
This passing is an automatic process and is
part of the scheme of nature. The will, or be-
lief, or faith of man has nothing to do with it.
People who know little of the subject except
from hearsay and who are bewildered and preju-
diced by the undoubted large amount of fraud,
* deceit, and want of respectability formerly con-
nected with it, often ask me if there is really
anything in the phenomena of spiritualism.
They want to know if mal-observation, hallu-
cination, conscious or unconscious fraud on the
part of the medium, or a hundred and one other
things, cannot account for all these strange hap-
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OP SPIRITUALISM 5
penings without the necessity of resorting to a
supernormal origin. Even if the actual occur-
rence of the phenomena be granted, are not our
own personalities tremendously complex and
fully capable of compassing what look like mir-
acles by means yet unknown or undiscovered?
So why assume that " spirits' ' are the operat-
ing agencies even if we have to give in to ex-
ternal operators of some kind!
These are the kind of questions my friends
ask me as one having some modern knowledge
of the subject. But chiefly they wish to know
if the phenomena known as spiritualistic really
take place ; if they occur beyond all possibility
of dispute ; if I am absolutely sure of it.
My answer to them is that certain types of
what are known as physical and mental phe-
nomena do occur. As certainly do they occur
as that night follows day.
Whatever be the interpretation, there is now-
adays no doubt of the actuality of the phenom-
ena. Their occurrence has been established as
surely as any type of ordinary physical phe-
nomena. I advise my friends to pay no heed
whatever to the various uninformed articles
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
6 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
that appear from time to time in the public
press or to the prejudiced diatribes of people
who have never properly investigated for them-
selves; for it is one of the most remarkable
facts about this subject that people can be found
willing and even eager to pronounce opinions
upon it who have never sat in a single seance.
Before I deal with the more practical parts
of psychic investigation the reader will perhaps
be interested briefly to learn some few of the
things that the entities who direct the phenom-
ena (I often call them " operators' f in this
work) declare to be true of themselves and of
the world in which they dwell, together with
some of my observations upon their statements.
The reader is to understand that I do not press
my own beliefs upon him. I am only telling him
a few things that appear to me likely to be true
and which will probably be placed definitely
within the region of ascertained fact before this
century has run its course.
When we take a broad view of what the op-
erators say of their world and have regard to
the many little incidents that occur at the se-
ances — incidents which cannot be properly re-
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF SPIBITUALISM 7
ported to outsiders because of their intimate
nature and their spasmodic and peculiar type
— we see plainly that there are two main lines
of consideration. Briefly, it may be stated that
the inhabitants of the other world can report
to us anything in the way of their personal emo-
tional states but that they cannot tell us any-
thing very satisfactory about the composition
of their world. They can tell us if they are
happy or sad, gay or gloomy, energetic or in-
dolent; they can say if they are pleased with
their surroundings or otherwise, if they would
like to return to the earth, and so on, but they
cannot tell us in a convincing way if their world
contains what we know here as mountains and
seas. Of course this is a crude way of put-
ting it, but we cannot expect to have exact lines
of demarcation when we are dealing with a
subject such as the present. The inhabitants
of the psychic world — at least those in direct
contact with us in the seance room — appear to
be beings similar to ourselves in regard to all
essential qualities. They possess all the char-
acteristics of human beings. They are sad, joy-
ful, happy, mirthful, humorous, as the mood
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
8 HINTS AND OBSEEVATIONS
seizes them. In fact, if we say they are human
beings living in another world and separated
from us by a veil of sense, bnt that they can
communicate their thoughts and feelings to us
through this veil, we shall have an exact repre-
sentation of what seem to be the facts of the
case.
I admit that it is very difficult for the ordi-
nary person to bring home to his consciousness
the fact that these unseen beings can possibly
be like himself in their make-up. There is an,
ingrained feeling in humanity that the beings
inhabiting the after-death world must be far
removed from us in mental qualities and char-
acteristics — we feel that they should show a
great advance in intellectual equipment over
what they possessed here ; that they should be,
if not quite angels, at any rate not far removed
from them. Of course this instinctive feeling
we all possess is due to the centuries of relig-
ious instruction behind us ; we feel that the next
state must of necessity be either heaven or hell.
Hence it is rather a shock to us when we find
the inhabitants of that other state not to be
angels by any manner of means, not to exceed
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF SPIRITUALISM 9
ns appreciably in intelligence, but to be, in fact,
only good-natured beings of much the same ca-
pacity as our familiar selves. I confess in my
own case that I have not yet quite got over the
"heaven" feeling, so deep down do age-long
suggestions go. I cannot yet quite realise when
I talk to any of the inhabitants of the other
world that I am, as a matter of fact, talking
to beings of nearly the same capacity as any
human companions. I know that death makes
no change in essentials, yet deep-grained an-
cestral suggestions always cause in me a sense
akin to wonder that it is so.
The entities behind my experimental circles
have shown themselves by their acts to be es-
sentially human beings; and in this respect
they conform to the general rules all over the
world. At all seances of repute, wherever and
whenever held, by whatever form of medium-
ship the communications are received, the com-
municating entities declare themselves in every
sense to be human beings. They say they have
simply passed the portals of death and this is
practically the only way they differ from ordi-
nary humanity here.
Digitized by VjOOQ 1C
10 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
The operators say that their world is a bright
and happy one, full of vital energy. Its inhab-
itants are much more "alive" than when they
lived on earth. This is a point they emphasise
particularly. They say they have no desire
whatever to return here — they are far better
off where they are. The broad general fact
seems to be that the other state is a more forci-
ble or energetic one than this — energy seems
to be the keynote. Everybody and everything
are alive in a degree much beyond our concep-
tion of being alive. Their state of existence is
altogether fuller, freer, and of higher capacity
than ours. Moreover the operators declare
most emphatically that they are very happy.
Whenever asked the question they try, by the
energetic way in which they manifest, to illus-
trate to us how happy and content they are.
They are very sure of it and will take no denial.
The operators declare that each of them pos-
sesses a body, and if asked if it is what we un-
derstand by the psychic body, they answer in
the affirmative. They declare that they are
present in the seance room in the psychic body;
that when clairvoyants see them, they see, in
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF SPIRITUALISM 11
effect, their psychic bodies. They say this body
of theirs is not subject to decay or disorganisa-
tion corresponding to anything resembling
physical decay or disorganisation. They em-
phatically state that all humanity possesses two
bodies, the physical and the psychical; that
death really means the complete and final sep-
aration of the two. As a matter of fact, a good
many clairvoyants have declared that they have
been able to observe — with the clairvoyant eye
— their actual separation at the time of death,
and the accounts are generally consistent.
The psychic body if it really exists, and I
think it does, has the following qualities
amongst others :
(1) It is perfectly invisible to normal sight,
though it may occasionally be made visible to
clairvoyant sight.
None of the entities in my experimental se-
ance rooms has ever been visible to me; but
various clairvoyants have described spirit
forms as being present and the descriptions
have been apparently confirmed by vigorous
and happy-sounding raps.
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
12 HINTS AND OBSEEVATIONS
(2) It is quite impalpable to normal senses
generally.
I have never seen, heard, felt or "sensed"
the psychic body or any entity in the seance
room.
(3) It is used as part of the mechanism for
producing physical phenomena.
I have strong experimental evidence that this
is so. The operators say that both the unfreed
psychic body of the medium and their own
freed psychic bodies are used in conjunction.
(4) Physical matter presents no barrier to
its passage through space.
(5) It is of such a nature that when united
to the physical body in a living person it is an
exact duplicate of the physical body. It would
appear that each cell or even atom of the physi-
cal body has somehow imbedded in it, or super-
imposed on it, or connected with it, a corre-
sponding element of the psychic body.
(6) Its composition is not material in the
sense that we know matter.
(7) It would seem to radiate all round it an
aura. These are signs of two distant auras
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF SPIEITUAUSM 13
round the body of a man * and it is possible
that one is dne to the physical and the other
to the psychical body.
(8) It would appear to be the form or mould
upon which the physical body is organised; it
being therefore the permanent part of us while
the physical is the evanescent.
As I have said I have much experimental evi-
dence which shows that there is really within
the body of the medium an interior something
upon which the operators work when they are
producing phenomena. It is a something which
while being impalpable so far as our ordinary
senses are concerned, is capable of being pro-
jected from her into space and thereafter being
filled out with gross matter taken from her
physical body. This filling out with gross mat-
ter stiffens this invisible, impalpable, projected
something and enables it to act on inanimate
objects in the seance room, such as chairs and
tables. If it be a portion of the medium's psy-
chic body, as the operators say it is, then the
psychic body cannot be rigid as regards form,
but must be more or less plastic; so that a por-
* See "The Human Atmosphere," by Dr. Kilner.
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
14 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
tion of it can be elongated and projected to defi-
nite points in space. We have to remember
that we can conceive an etheric duplicate of the
physical body. We know relatively very little
about the ether, which may, for all we can tell,
be a complex substance. The only thing that
seems certain about it is that it is something
which passes beyond the bounds of matter.
Possibly matter is differentiated ether. There
are possibly many differentiated forms of ether
besides that one which we know as matter.
There may indeed, for ought we know, be a
whole world of substance and even life within
the folds of the ether. Nowadays we have
reached down to the electron and there find ap-
parently the beginning of matter. It does not
necessarily follow that we have found the be-
ginning of all things.
There is a great deal of evidence that the
psychic body does really exist and this evidence 4
is fairly exact and is quite voluminous. The
most satisfactory part of it is that dealing with
the projection of the double, as the psychic
body has been termed, from living persons.
Many records are extant which show that while
**
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
PHENOMENA OF SPIRITUALISM 15
the physical body of a person was sleeping, or
in trance, or sometimes even awake, his psychic
body was seen a considerable distance away.
The matter is tinder investigation at present,
bnt taking the evidence in a general way it
seems to my mind that we do really possess
something of the natnre of a body — a body not
made of matter in the ordinary sense — which,
dnring life here, is firmly attached to or forms
an integral part of the physical body and which
is probably the vitalising agent of that body. If
this psychic body is partly withdrawn from the
physical or from any portion of it, then the
latter is left in a lifeless insensitive condition.
I have shown elsewhere that the medium at one
of my experimental circles nowadays experi-
ences practically no physical inconvenience even
when forces approximating half a hundred-
weight have their focus upon her body* She
seems indifferent to such forces. How is this!
A valued scientific correspondent has suggested
that the condition of apparent anaesthesia is
due to the psychic body of the medium being
exteriorised during the occurrence of phenom-
ena; that is to say, all her psychic body except
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
16 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
the part relating to the head is separated from
her physical body and is exteriorised, or moved
outwards in space. My correspondent thinks
that the brain and head are not affected because
the medium is quite conscious during the se-
ance. Her psychic and physical bodies being
separated, the vitalising agent is not closely in
contact with the physical and hence she is in a
condition of partial anaesthesia. My friend
has possibly hit upon a portion of the truth.
The operators say that our entry into their
world at death seems excessively wonderful to
us, but yet that there is a degree of familiarity
about it which keeps us from becoming bewil-
dered. In other words we are under the action
of the law of continuity, which enables us to
maintain balance on arrival within our novel
surroundings. Nevertheless I have reason to
believe that most of us will be rather aston-
ished, and I believe, delighted. Those who have
been suffering from bodily illness will find that
instantaneously they have become rejuvenated.
I have been told that the sense of bodily com-
fort, as it were, which comes to a man on his
entry into the other life, especially if previous
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF SPIRITUALISM 17
to death, he has suffered from a long, lingering
illness, is delightful.
The operators emphatically declare that the
fact of death does not in the least degree alter a
man's character. He is exactly the same five
minutes after the passing as five minutes be-
fore it. So that the next state of existence con-
tains all kinds and conditions of humanity, just
as the earth does. They say that malevolence,
envy, hate and all the lower attributes inherent
in earth humanity exist also in their world.
There are not the two classes only — good and
bad — as theology would have us believe. They
say that the good bears a higher ratio to the bad
than is the case here ; so that we have an ad-
vance, if it is only a small one, so far as moral
qualities are concerned.
The operators say that their psychic bodies
are incapable of being ill or feeling pain, but —
and it is an important but — they emphatically
declare that mental pain can be felt and endured
in their world. In other words they have no
physical ailments, but remorse, anxiety, and
mental distress of various kinds still find a
place with them. The other state of existence
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
18 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
would appear to be no heaven and no hell, and
the sooner this is recognised the better. Judg-
ing by what the operators tell us, it is a world
just a little higher than our own as regards
the moral status of its inhabitants.
According to the operators the people on
their side are somewhat curious about psychic
phenomena. I have often asked them if there
were many looking on at our seances. When-
ever asked the question they would begin rap-
ping and keep on rapping until we were tired
of hearing them. They wished to indicate by
this that there were great crowds of spirit peo-
ple looking on. They told me this was the case
at all our seances. They gave me the impres-
sion that the seance room and the sitters were
surrounded by a huge invisible audience ar-
ranged in an orderly and disciplinary manner,
perhaps tier upon tier as in a lecture theatre.
The seance to many of them would appear to
be as novel as it is to us. Moreover, it prob-
ably gives them the opportunity of looking
again for a short time upon the affairs of earth.
In all probability such watchers are able to see
the sitters forming the circle. A tunnel has
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF BPIBITUALISM 19
been temporarily driven between the two stages
of existence — stages normally isolated — with
the oonseqnenoe that crowds of those on the
other side seize the opportunity and look
through on the world they have left behind.
I have asked the operators why they con-
tinue to demonstrate at seances month after
month, year after year; does it not get tiring
to theml Would they not be better employed
doing something elsel Their answer to this is
that the mere fact of being engaged in produc-
ing the phenomena and thus doing useful work
helps them in their own development. For this
and for other reasons I have rather come to the
conclusion that one of the central ideas under-
lying the activities of the next state is that of
service.
The operators say that there are different
spheres within their world. They say that they
themselves belong to different spheres, some of
them being in the second, some in the third and
some in the fourth. One evening, when we had
a well-known trance medium with us, an entity
purported to control who said he was from the
seventh sphere. He said he was the spirit di-
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
20 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
rector-in-chief of the circle and gave a few
homely words of advice and encouragement to
the medium and sitters. As to what these
spheres may be I can say very little. Perhaps
different spirit localities, perhaps different
states of mentality or consciousness, perhaps
something quite otherwise. However, the op-
erators will have it that these spheres exist.
The entities communicating say, as I have al-
ready mentioned, that life is very full, vigorous
a$d keen in their world. They say that there
is occupation for everybody and amusement for
everybody. They declare that many phases
of activity in our world have counterparts in
theirs; and that in addition they have occupa-
tions to which there are no counterparts on
earth. It appears that no one need be idle, but
that all can readily find congenial duties. Most
duties here are uncongenial so that if the en-
tities tell the truth, the next state is in this
respect in advance of ours. Music and the arts
also seem to have higher expression there than
here.
I have been told at direct voice seances that
the next stage of existence possesses what are
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF SPIEITUALISM 21
called "dark" spheres— places or states which,
according to the entities, are most unpleasant
and in all respects undesirable. The entities
say there is no orthodox hell, but that the dark
spheres are nevertheless places of retribution
whence egress can only be attained by laborious
and painstaking effort. Possibly it is only the
worst of humanity who pass into these dark
spheres at physical death. Most of us, who are
ordinary folk, and neither demons nor angels,
will find ourselves well enough satisfied with
the change. But the point I wish to emphasise
is that the entities say that in their state of ex-
istence there are in reality "dark" places —
places which should be avoided at all cost, the
way to avoid them, so we are told, being to live
a normal life while on earth.
Although the other state of existence seems
to be inhabited, so far as we can judge, by hu-
man beings who have passed from this earth
by the process of death and who are very simi-
lar to ourselves as regards their states of con-
sciousness and general characteristics, we find
that we can form very little conception as to
the physical appearance — if I may so term it—
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
22 HINTS AND OBSEEVATIONS
of that next world. Is it a real tangible world
containing things, for instance, that correspond
to our mountains, lakes and seasl Is there
anything in that world outside the personalities
or states of consciousness of the beings inhab-
iting itl Is there anything corresponding to
matter, as we know it here! In a word, is it a
solid, real world such as we are used to here,
or is it some kind of phantasmagoria without
reality or substantiality as a basis 1
I may say at once that the operators at the
Belfast circle are unable to explain — even by
analogy — the appearance of their world. And
I think this state of affairs holds generally at
all reputable circles. Not that the entities in-
habiting it exist within the unsubstantial fabric
of a vision, as it were, but simply that they
are unable to explain to us in terms we can
understand.
There is some reason to suppose that the
psychic realm may include a dimension more
than ours, i. e., it may be in four dimensions,
length, breadth, thickness and a something else
which we may call X. If this is so we need
not be surprised tfrat its inhabitants cw tell us
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF SPIRITUALISM 23
practically nothing of it. We ourselves could
give no information to beings living in a two-
dimensional world which would be understand-
able by them. I once interrogated the opera-
tors at the Belfast circle on this matter. The
following is the conversation, answers being
obtained by raps r —
Q. Do you know what a state of three di-
mensions isf
.A., jl es«
Q. We live in this world in a state of three
dimensions, length, breadth and thickness. You
understand what I meant
A. Yes.
Q. Now, is the world in which you live one
of four dimensions f
A. No.
Q. Is it one of three dimensions?
A. No.
Q. It is one of three or of four dimensions!
A. No.
They seemed pretty positive about it and as
far as I could gather appeared to know what
I meant. I went on with my questioning, but
beyond the assertions stated above, they did not
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
24 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
seem able to explain. The impression I gath-
ered was that they exist in a state which is not
dimensional in the sense that ours is dimen-
sional; it cannot be described as what we mean
by (possessing four dimensions, nor yet what
we mean by possessing three. Indeed, when
by a further series of questions I proceeded to
try to get at what it really was, I came to the
conclusion they were unable to tell me or to
offer any analogy which might be helpful. So
I went on to speak of other things, thinking
that by such roundabout means I might manage
to obtain a glimpse at what was meant.
Q. In the world in which you exist are there
mountains and lakes and rivers!
A. Yes.
Q. You remember what the mountains and
lakes and rivers of this earth are like?
JO.* jl es.
Q. Are yours as real to you as ours to us?
A. Yes.
Q. On this earth a mountain appears much
the same to everybody. Is that the case in
your world?
A. No.
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OP SPIRITUALISM 25
Q. It appears different according to who
views it?
A. Yes.
Such replies as these indicate, if we are to
believe the operators (and in regard to experi-
mental work which I could verify I have always
found them truthful) that there is something
radically strange about the world in which they
exist, something that they cannot explain, some-
thing that is no doubt simple and easy enough
to them, but which they are quite unable to con-
vey to ns in terms we can follow.
This inability of the operators to explain the
composition of their world holds also with re-
gard to the explanation of phenomena they
themselves produce. As a general thing it may
be stated that they cannot explain the inward-
ness — if I may so express it — of their phenome-
nal effects. They can tell us whereabouts on a
material body they apply mechanical pressure,
what leg of the table they grip, and so on, but
they cannot inform us what kind of energy it
is they use to obtain their results. This may
be illustrated by a conversation I had with them
on the matter. I had been discussing the levi-
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
26 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
tation of a table with them. Now, I have little
doubt that at the commencement of the phe-
nomenon of levitation, a loose fibrous or thread-
like structure is projected from the medium and
attached to the under surface of the table, and
that psychic force is then gradually exerted
along this structure, making it sufficiently rigid
to raise the table. Experimental observation
shows me these things (the reader will find
the matter fairly fully discussed in my book,
' ' The Reality of Psychic Phenomena ' \) Now,
it had occurred to me that the thread-like struc-
ture really consists of a cable of thin tubes and
that something is pushed into the tubes in the
form of a fluid.
Here is the conversation: —
Q. Let us consider the phenomenon of levita-
tion. Do you first of all eject a thread-like
loose structure from the medium's body to the
under surface of the table and attach the end
of it to the under surface?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you then exert a force along the loose
structure which stiffens it and enables it to levi-
tate the table?
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF SPIRITUALISM 27
A. Yes.
Q. Do you apply this force gradually?
A. Yes.
(These three answers agree with what I
found from experiment.)
Q. Now I want to consider the thread-like
structure along which you exert the psychic
force. Is each of these threads in reality a
tube?
A. Yes.
Q. Each is hollow inside?
A. Yes.
Q. You know what is meant by a tube?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you stiffen the tubes by filling them
with something?
A. Yes.
Q. With a gas?
A. Yes.
Q. You know what I mean by a gas?
A. Yes.
Q. Is it not a fluid like water you inject into
the tubes?
A. No.
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
28 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
Q. Is it not a liquid?
A. No.
Q. Is it a gas?
A. Yes.
Q. Is the gas one like the air we have here?
A. No.
Q. You know what a gas of the earth is like?
A. Yes.
Q. Is the gas you inject into the tubes like
Oxygen, Nitrogen, Hydrogen, or any of the
others we have here?
A. No.
Q. But it is a gas?
A. Yes.
Q. You are quite sure it is a gas?
A. Yes.
Q. But we have no gas on earth like it?
A. No.
Q. Then this particular gas of which you
speak does not belong to the earth?
A. No.
Q. It is only to be found in the spirit world?
A. Yes.
Q. But you would call it a gast
A. Yes.
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF SPIBITUALISM 29
Q. This gas is supplied to you for the pur-
pose of producing the phenomena?
A. Yes.
Q. Does the material of which the tubes are
formed belong to the spirit world like the gast
A. No.
Q. The material for the tubes belongs to the
matter of our earth?
A. Yes.
Q. Is it matter taken from the body of the
medium?
A. Yes.
Q. So that a tube consists of two kinds of
matter, matter from the earth and matter from
the spirit world?
A. Yes.
I went over the conversation again, putting
the questions in different form, but the opera-
tors stuck to their tale. In brief it is that the
structure which levitates the table, which moves
the table about the floor, which makes raps,
consists of a bundle of tubes. The tubes them-
selves are manufactured from matter taken
from the body of the medium. A gas, or some-
thing which resembles a gas, and which is not
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
30 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
found on earth but belongs exclusively to the
psychic world, is injected into the tubes and
this causes a pressure which makes the whole
bundle rigid or semi-rigid. My readers are to
understand of course that the explanation is
not mine and that the rapping entities are re-
sponsible for it. It need not be taken seriously,
for all it shows is that the operators seemingly
cannot explain in plain terms the more subtle
phases in the production of their phenomena.
It has been stated in some places that when
a man dies he enters upon a period of oblivion
before waking up in the next state ; that is to
say, there is a break in consciousness lasting
for a longer or shorter period. Accordingly, I
asked some questions of the operators. I went
about the matter as follows: —
Q. Will the operator who has been rapping
answer me a question?
A. Yes.
Q. I want you to tell me for what period of
time you personally experienced unconscious-
ness when you died. Have you any objections
to telling me?
A. No.
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF SPIRITUALISM 31
Q. Was it for more than three dayst
A. No,
Q. Less than three days!
A. Yes.
Q. Less than two dayst
A. Yes.
Q. Was it for only a few hours?
A. No.
(A pause to consider what the operator could
mean.)
Q. Were you unconscious at all?
A. (With joy) No.
Q. You passed through the change we call
death without a break in consciousness?
A. Yes.
Q. Is this general?
A. No.
Q. Yours was a special case?
A. Yes.
Q. There is usually a period of unconscious-
ness?
A. Yes.
Q. From a few hours to a few days?
A. Yes.
At direct voice seances I have been informed
qLc
32 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
by entities supposedly speaking through the
trumpet that in some few cases unconscious-
ness at death persists for as long as six months
of our time.
One's feelings on waking up in the next state.
I asked questions on this matter from the
rapping entity above mentioned.
Q. Did you feel strange when you realised
you had passed through the change of death?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you feel very strange and bewildered?
A. No.
Q. Things were strange yet in a kind of way
familiar?
A. Yes.
Q. Would it be correct to say that the degree
of strangeness and unfamiliarity is on a par
with what one of us would experience on being
suddenly transferred to, say, some tropical
country?
A. Yes.
There may be a line of continuity between
the two worlds — and there seems no doubt of it
—but for all that the two worlds themselves are
'Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OP SPIEITUALISM 33
radically different. It is questionable if matter
— in the sense that we understand matter— ex-
ists within the next state at all; even matter in
its most refined form, such as the electronic Far
more likely is it that our matter vanishes there
altogether, even to our last conception of it, and
the next state is an etherio one, a fact which
would not render continuity impossible, for
physicists are well acquainted with the interac-
tion of ether on matter. It seems to me that
our matter has some kind of a counterpart or
mould within the next state, very difficult to
explain in words. Perhaps matter here is the
projection of fourth dimensional matter, which
would explain a lot of anomalies.
That there are very real energies in the next
state which have some form of correspondence
to the energies we have here, I have no manner
of doubt. I have seen enough in the seance
room to convince me of this. To take only one
example: — In the phenomenon of levitation of
a table or other article a psychic arm extrudes
from the medium — I do not mean an arm in the
sense of the human arm, but a projection of
some kind from her body. Now this projection
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
34 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
or extrusion is practically invisible and impal-
pable — it is impalpable except just at its free
end, where it grips or presses on the body it is
levitating — yet it transmits throughout its
length great stresses, as is obviously the case
when it sustains at its free end, as it has done,
a body weighing between thirty and forty
pounds. Again, this structure seems to con-
tain within it quite a lot of matter temporarily
borrowed from the body of the medium. In
what state or condition is this matter that it
should be invisible and impalpable and yet be
capable of transmitting large stresses? Cer-
tainly in no state which we know here. A scien-
tific friend has suggested that it has temporar-
ily disappeared into a fourth-dimensional state,
which is at any rate conceivable. And how can
matter be taken from the medium's body, and
how can it be returned, without injury to her?
These are statements of fact, though they are
problems whose solutions are unobtainable in
our present state of knowledge. That such
things happen shows us, I think, that the in-
habitants of the other world, or at any rate
those of them who are trained to the work, are
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF SPIRITUALISM 35
able to act on living matter in ways of which
we have not the least conception. It seems that
they can make rear attacks on matter, whereas
we have to be content with frontal fighting. In
any case their ability to act on matter indicates
that even in their plane of existence they are in
indirect contact with it. Possibly their rela-
tion to matter is similar to our relation to the
ether, that is to say, there is a reversal of stand-
point.
From my experience in the seance room I
conceive the next state as being a very material
one, or perhaps I should rather say, a very solid
one to the senses with which we shall be
equipped when we are its inhabitants. I do
not for a moment think it is an ethereal, evan-
escent, quasi-real world, having no external so-
lidity. On the contrary, I am satisfied that it
presents to those living in it an appearance of
reality at any rate as great as this world does
to us, and probably greater. It seems to me
to be all a matter of sense perception. We can
be quite sure that the entities existing on the
other side of the veil do not possess the mate-
rial senses that we do, But the peculiar thing
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
36 HINTS AND OBSEEVATIONS
is that they posses senses in a general way
analogous to ours. Probably even in our state
of existence such senses are latent within us
and suddenly spring into maturity just at 01*
shortly after death of the physical body. But
however it is, with whatever instruments of
perception the unseen entities are equipped,
their world, according to their own accounts and
according to what I can indirectly perceive
through years of experimental study in the se-
ance room, appears to them as a solid, real
world possessing permanent form. Incident-
ally they say it is a beautiful world, more beau-
tiful even than ours.
I am satisfied from experimental observation
that the inhabitants of the next state have a dif-
ferent conception of time from ours. Even when
they approach our world very closely, as they
do at good seances, they seem to have some dif-
ficulty in getting into our way of computing
time, that is, in thinking back to what they knew
as time when inhabitants of the earth. As to
what the difference is I do not know. It is pos-
sible that both time and space as we know them
here are only components of something else,
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF SPIKITUALISM 37
and that the inhabitants of the other world see
the resultant, as it were.
A speaking entity at a direct voice seance
once gratuitously informed me that there is no
such thing as space. Without going so far as
that we are bound to come to the conclusion that
our views of space are limited. Space is in-
finite with regard to our present senses. It
seems to me like an illusion purposely pre-
sented to us in order to conform to the prin-
ciples of our earth existence ; to keep us chained
in, as it were.
The entities communicating say, as I have al-
ready mentioned, that the next state is not a
homogeneous whole, but that it is built up of
"spheres" and "realms," and that they them-
selves do not all belong to one sphere. Entities
belonging to a higher sphere may come down at
will to a lower, but not vice versa. At one of
our seances some of the visitors asked the op-
erators in what spheres they (the visitors)
would find themselves when they left the earth,
and the answer was, the third and fourth. The
first sphere would seem to be the abode of peo-
ple whose moral development was somewhat
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
38 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
low when they passed from things terrestrial;
who need a lot of cleaning up before they can
rise into the second and higher spheres; in
other words, the spheres next the earth are the
f abode of the riff-raff of humanity. The entities
tell me that all our experimental circles are
guarded very strictly on their side so that no
undesirables shall be able to get near. As a mat-
ter of fact I would not care to be in the Belfast
seance room if I had any doubt of the benefi-
cent intentions of those behind the scenes.
With psychic forces up to nearly a hundred-
weight being exerted one can easily imagine
what would be likely to happen if an evilly-dis-
posed entity was able to thrust his presence
and will upon the regular operating entities.
The poltergeist disturbances, whose occurrence
has so often been reported, show that such evil-
ly-disposed entities actually exist and I can
easily believe the operators when they state
they have thoroughly to guard the seance cham-
ber.
The operators state that it is some attribute
of the psychic body which automatically pre-
vents an entity in one sphere from rising to a
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF SPIRITUALISM 39
higher. What they say leads to the impression
that the psychic body of a person in the lower
spheres (say the first and second) has some or-
dinary matter entangled with it, i.e., his body is
not purely psychic or etheric, but is encrusted,
if I may use the word, with particles of some
kind of matter. The matter may be of so fine
a nature that it would not be palpable to us,
yet its presence in the psychic realm is a great
embarrassment to the entity possessing it. If
we accept the theory that while here we possess
the psychic and physical bodies together, inex-
tricably commingled, and that the former is the
organising structure of the latter, it is not so
hard to suppose that when the two are sepa-
rated at death, a thousandth of a gram or so
physical matter may remain mixed up with the j
psychic form.
I once tried to weigh the psychic body of my
medium. She was seated on a weighing ma-
chine and I asked the operators to exteriorise
her psychical body and place it beyond the lim-
its of the weighing machine. I wished to see
if there would be any decrease in the weight
of the medium when this was done, i. e., if her
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
40 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
psychic body was susceptible to the force of
gravity. On the operators giving three little
raps on the floor as a sign to me that they had
done what I asked, I found that the medium's
weight had decreased by about eight pounds,
but that the decrease did not remain constant
at eight pounds, but became less and less until
there was practically no diminution at all; and
during the whole experiment the operators de-
clared that the medium's psychic body was ex-
teriorised and placed beyond the limits of the
weighing machine. I thought at the time that
the experiment was a failure and I am not now
sure that there is much in it. It has, however,
occurred to me as just possible that when the
operators tried to remove the medium's psychic
body they wer$ unable to remove it per se, but
had to take some physical matter along with
it, i. e., some gross matter was at first adhering
to the psychic body and this was gradually re-
turned to the medium's physical body, as evi-
denced by the gradual reduction of her loss of
weight, until finally her psychic body became
more and more nearly pure.
I expect the normal human being on awaken-
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF SPIEITUALISM 41
ing in the next state will find that there has
occurred an exaltation in his state of conscious-
ness ; that is to say, that his sense of his own
ego has been enlarged. There will automatic-
ally come to him a more intense perception of
vitality; he will feel himself a more vibrant en-
tity than he ever felt himself here. Here his
soul looks upon Creation out of the five little
windows of the senses. They are really very
small windows and afford only a very limited
view. Some of them seem also purposely so de-
signed that the view they do let through is dis-
coloured and out of focus, so that instead of see-
ing the Universe as it really is, man beholds
only glimpses of it* Nevertheless it is only a
matter of sense peception and I therefore ex-
pect to find that across the barrier each of us
will come onto possession of a set of new senses
much more useful and effective than those we
have here. Those senses are probably latent
in us now. Some of them may even be slightly
active here, as is probable in the case of clair-
voyants. For the great majority of mankind,
however, they are latent and of little apparent
use ; though this uselessness may be but appar-
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
42 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
ent as they may be the means of which life is
possible here at all, inasmuch as they may form
a link connecting us with energies within the
etherio fold. In any case I fully expect that
immediately on dissolution man will find him-
self the owner of senses exactly suited to the
conditions of his new world. Nature is too or-
derly and precise in that part of it which we
can examine here for the case to be otherwise.
If there is a next world — and I for one know
there is — then it follows we can predicate all
the conditions of that world as existing subject
to law and order. There is certain to be noth-
ing of chaos.
This world is carried on — I mean as regards
its physical well-being — according to very strict
law. The force of gravity, for instance, which
holds our bodies to the surface of the earth
which determines the path of the earth round
the sun, and which, in fact, renders life here
possible at all, is constant. It is the same now
as it will be a thousand years hence. If it
varied in any appreciable degree there would be
such an upheaval in the universe as no human
brain could conceive. The laws regarding the
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF SPIRITUALISM 43
production of electricity, to cite another case, do
not vary. The laws regarding the three states
of matter, solid liquid, and gaseous, do not vary.
We go on our way under constant law and or-
der. We do not find a whimsical fickleness
about Mother Nature. And so, reasoning by
analogy, I expect to find our next state of exist-
ence as regards its physical aspects, or what
correspond to physical aspects, as firmly and
unchangeably governed as this. There will be
natural law and order of a well-nigh perfect
kind and all the philosophers and occultists in
existence could not persuade me to the contrary.
Besides physical law this world of ours is
also under rule and order with regard to the
government of the people in it So also, I ex-
pect, with the other world. It is a somewhat
higher state than this (of that there is no doubt)
and it is certain to be under organised govern-
ment. Natural law will hold sway over it and
spirit law will touch all its people.
If there is one thing more certain than an-
other it is that the other world is not at some
immense distance from us, to be reached only
by tremendous effort and involving total sep-
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
44 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
aration from the affairs of this earth. The
other world is here. It probably interpene-
trates the earth and all things earthly. Being
a state of a different order from ours, either
by simple numerical dimension or by reason of
its involving the ether directly in its composi-
tion, it can exist along with ours. That we are
not conscious of its existence is no disproof of
this. We have analogies which are helpfuL A
room, for instance, may be simultaneously full
of light rays, X-rays, wireless telegraphy rays
and so on ; they may all exist together and our
senses will tell us only of the light rays. The
rest, without the use of special instruments,
will be as though they do not exist for us. So
it is perfectly conceivable that the next state
may exist in a condition of extreme reality and
we be quite unconscious of its presence. Its in-
habitants may be all round us — and I believe
they are all round us — and we may be quite un-
conscious of their nearness. Indeed, a tremen-
dous range of evidence shows that we are con-
tinually surrounded by those who exist in that
other world, i. e., by those who have passed
through the process of death. Whether they
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OP SPIRITUALISM 45
are continually conscious of our proximity I
think is doubtful. That they are sometimes
conscious of our presence I am sure is correct.
Even many of us here at some time or other
have, I think, sensed an invisible presence with
us. But generally speaking we on this side are
blind and deaf to all projections from the other
state.
That this earth is of a somewhat lower order
with regard to its mental characteristics and
physical energies than that next one of which
I speak, is, I think, evident from what occurs
in the seance room. All we can do in the seance
room is to present to the unseen operators suit-
able passive conditions, i. e., we do nothing ac-
tively involving intelligent knowledge and de-
sign. All the work is done by the unseen entities.
They it is who set in motion the intricate
processes which result in phenomena. We sit
still and do nothing. It is not conceivable that
their world is of a lower order than ours if this
is so. A civilised race does not enter a country
of savages and expect the savages to be able to
design bridges and lay down railway tracks.
The higher does not expect the lower to do the
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
46 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
brain work. It is certain that all the active
thinking is done by the inhabitants of the next
state when they communicate with us either by
way of physical or mental phenomena. So it
therefore appears that their world is at least
a step in advance of ours. It is a stage through
which we pass on our unknown Journey. Its
inhabitants are the "live" people while we are
relatively sleeping. As a matter of fact many
entities call ours the shadow world and theirs
Jhe real one.
Is the investigation of spiritualism a suitable
study for everybody?
The answer is in the negative. Persons of
.hysterical temperament should have nothing to
do with it. Only those with calm well-balanced
minds should touch it. For my own part I can-
not see why the mere fact of opening up a chan-
nel of communication with the next state should
cause anybody to lose his ordinary self control
and make him behave like a religious fanatic.
Surely the idea of there being a state into which
all humanity gravitates after this one is a com-
mon-sense, logical conclusion from the general
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF SPIRITUALISM 47
facts of our present life. There is nothing to
get excited about. None of my friends gets
the least bit excited and I have many who are
interested in the subject. Nevertheless I have
known people who are not fitted tempera-
mentally for psychic investigation, and I warn
any such to leave it severely alone. If it can-
not be approached in a calm, reasoning spirit,
and without undue absorption, it should be left
in the hands of those better fitted for the task.
One of the matters least understood by en-
quirers into psychic phenomena is the question
of the effect of the phenomena on their bodily
health. Now, although we are dealing with a
realm practically unknown when we deal with
psychic things, there are a few common-sense
rules which if observed, will save us from bad
effects. Psychic experience would be dearly
bought if we could only have it at the expense
of nervous or mental breakdown. Properly in-
vestigated there is no risk of this. Improperly
investigated there is very serious risk. Why
should there be risk to one's health when one is
a member of a circle where physical phenomena
are produced, say for the sake of argument,
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
48 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
strong physical phenomena such as telekinesis,
the trumpet voice or materialisation? The rea-
son is obvious. The levitation of tables, the
movement of furniture, the carrying about of
trumpets, the voices, the materialisation, of
forms, all represent a quantity of work per-
formed on the physical plane — and work not
permitted in the easiest way as we ourselves
would do it, but done in a special and ab-
normal way by what purport to be spirit
entities. For a given quantity of work
done, at least an equal quantity of energy
must disappear. Whence comes this energy?
There is only too much reason to suppose
that it comes from the bodies of the medium
and sitters. Do not suppose that it all
comes from the medium. It is not correct to
consider the medium the only source of energy.
It is more correct to consider him the instru-
ment whereby the energy of the circle can be
utilised to produce phenomena. So that a sit-
ter at a physical circle probably supplies from
his body — and from the most vital part of his
bodily structure, his nervous system — elements
which the spirit operators utilise to do their
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
PHENOMENA OP SPIRITUALISM 49
phenomenal work. The sitter therefore loses]
nervous energy and it is in this respect that the j
danger to his health lies. In a harmonious f am- /
ily circle the loss of nervous energy is at a min- /
imum consistent with the presentation of phe-
nomena; in a promiscuous circle hastily got;
together it is likely to be at a maximum. I do
not think that even at the best the process of
converting nervous energy into physical phe-
nomena is an efficient one. I am rather inclined
to suppose it one of the most inefficient methods
of conversions of energy we have in nature. If
this is so it follows that if we could accurately
compute the work actually done, say at a sit-
ting of one and a half hours ' duration where
there was an abundance of phenomena, we
would find that the energy taken from the bod-
ies of the sitters might be five or more times
as great, even in the most harmonious 'circles ;
whilst in inharmonious sittings it might be ten
or more times as great. The figures, of course,
are only guess-work but they will serve to show
what I mean. Hence the reader can see that
quite a considerable amount of energy in the
form of nervous elements must be taken from
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
50 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
the bodies of the sitters. Energy may also be
supplied from the psychic world, but we must
not rely upon that. Therefore the primary
rule for the safeguarding of one's health is this
— Do not sit too often. At the Belfast circle
the young medium and her family sat only once
a week except on special occasions. The con-
sequence of this was that her health never in
the least suffered, nor the health of any of the
circle. Phenomena could be relied on to occur
at 95 per cent, of the sittings. Bad weather,
good weather, nothing seemed to make any dif-
ference. Had she been a professional medium
and sitting every day, does anyone suppose the
results would have been anything like so good
and reliable? So the investigator should take
• warning by practical experience and sit not
\ more than once a week, and not longer than an
[hour and a half even then. It is the safest way,
and it is best to be on the safe side when deal-
ing with a subject about which so little is known
with certainty. One is apt to be a little enthu-
siastic at the commencement of one's investi-
gations and to overdo the thing. For this is
one of the subjects of which the difficulties and
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF SPIEITUAUSM 51
dangers axe only apparent when one has en-
tered well into it.
Let there be no mistake about it. To most
people frequent sittings, especially for physical
phenomena, is injurious. The least damage is
done in a harmonious family circle which meets
regularly. Different people are differently sus-
ceptible. It would appear that the spirit en-
tities can "draw" more easily from some peo-
ple than from others. That is to say, people
are so constituted as regards their bodily func-
tions that with some the nervous elements nec-
essary for phenomena can be abstracted with
greater ease and in larger quantities than with
others. Such people are therefore liable to be
injured physically if they do not use the great-
est discretion. Just why the vital nervous fluid
can be taken more easily from some than from
others is unknown, but I have no doubt of the
general truth of the statement. I have f ouncfj
that among seven people in the seance room, 1
the loss of bodily weight after a good phenom-j
enal sitting varied from nothing in the easel
of one sitter to six ounces in the case of an^j
other (see "The Eeality of Psychic Phenom-
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
52 HINTS AND OBSEEVATIONS
ena")- Some of this may have been due to
natural causes, such as respiration and so on,
but very improbably the whole of it. And while
it is true that with some people the nervous ele-
ments can be abstracted with ease, in the case
of a few people they canot be abstracted at all;
and some people are even so constituted that
they absorb this kind of energy in a seance
room instead of giving it out. If you find some-
body who seems positively to thrive on seances,
be wary. That person is almost certainly—
perhaps quite unconsciously to himself — help-
ing himself at the expense of others. There
is more in the vampire theory than most people
suppose. A seance chamber for physical phe-
nomena is a kind of melting pot of nervous en-
ergies. The vampire takes back an undue
share of what is left over when phenomena are
concluded and he may also be drawing on his
own account from his neighbours during the
whole time of the sitting. And it is not always
necessary that such a person be in a seance
room in order to receive benefit at the expense
of his fellows. A hall full of people or a
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF SPIRITUALISM 53
crowded public conveyance suffices. I also am
inclined to think, from the circumstantial tales
that have been told me, that there are means
of starting up an actual flow of nervous ele-
ments from one person to another, the victim
at the time being quite unconscious of the use
that is being made of him. For it is a peculiar-
ity of the loss of energy of the nervous type —
the kind of loss that occurs at seances — that the
depletion is not usually felt at the time of its
occurrence, but only some hours afterwards.
After an evening sitting for physical phenom-
ena, it is often only on the following morning
when the ill effects are observed. So unequal
have I found to be the contributions of nervous
energy from different people, that when acting
as a member of a circle I now always, if I can
manage it, ask all the individuals present to
join hands for a moment at the conclusion of
the sitting — at the same time asking the op-
erators to average up, as far as they can, the
total loss amongst those present. So in order
to safeguard your health you should be careful
with whom you are sitting.
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
54 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
The following are some further results of
weighings just before and just after seances.
Results for an ordinary seance where the sit-
ters ' hands were in contact with the table
throughout.
A drawing-board was placed upon the plat-
form of the weighing machine and a chair upon
the drawing-board. The board and chair to-
gether weighed 18% lbs. and this is included in
the weights given below.
Weights just be- Weights just
fore seance. after stance.
Stono Pounds Stone Pounds
Mr. X. (medium) U 9% 11 9%
Miss A 8 13 8 12y 2
Mrs. B 10 2% 10 2
Mrs. C 11 11% 11 10%
The following are the results for the same sit-
ters but for another contact seance.
Weights just be- Weights just
fore stance. after stance.
Stone Pounds Stone Pounds
Mr. X. (medium) 11 10% 11 10%
Miss A 9 8 13%
Mrs. B 10 1% 10 1%
Mrs. C 11 10% U 10y 8
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OP SPIRITUALISM 55
The following are the results for a "direct
voice" seance. The drawing-board and chair
in this case together weighed 13% lbs,, and this
is included in the weights given below.
Weights just bfr- Weights just
fore stance. after seance.
Stone Pounds Stone Pounds
Mrs. Y. (medium) 19 133,4 19 13%
Mrs. B 9 13y 2 9 13%
Mrs. C 11 6 11 5%
Mrs. D 10 3y 2 10 3
Mr. X 11 6%, 11 4%
Mr. B 13 7 13 6%
Mr. F 12 9% 12 9%
A very simple method of communication be-
tween this state and the next is by movements
of a table when a number of people sit round it
and place their hands on it. Its chief recom-
mendation is that it does not require a very
powerful medium. The experimenter will find
that nearly any combination of half a dozen
persons can obtain movements of the table in
this way. Unfortunately, however, there are
several drawbacks. For, generally speaking,
communications thus obtained are not clear and
definite. We have, to begin with, contact be-
tween the hands of the sitters and the table, so
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
56 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
that the questions of involuntary muscular
movement and the influence of the muscles on
the thoughts of the sitters come in, which are
very serious matters indeed when the veracity
or falseness of messages has to be considered.
I have made some experiments on movements
of the table with contact and have otherwise
observed many cases of the phenomenon with
various mediums. I have come to the conclu-
sion that there are three methods by which the
table is caused to move : —
(1) All movements are due to muscular force
employed by the medium. The medium may be
quite unconscious that he is exerting muscular
pressure, but the fact remains that every mo-
tion of the table is due to him. (I do not say
that it is not a genuine psychic action, for in
many cases I believe it is.) And not only is he
employing muscular pressure, but he is using
a force above that which he normally exerts—
a well-known condition accompanying psychic
action, which often causes an enhancement of
muscular tension.
(2) All movements are due to psychic action
— to psychic forces applied to the table .quite
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF SPIRITUALISM 57
independently of the muscular system of the
medium.
(3) Movements are caused by a mixture of
(1) and (2) ; i.e., there is true psychic pressure
combined with some muscular pressure.
It is only with mediums of the type (2) one
can be fairly certain that true psychic messages
are coming through.
The chief trouble with these contact move-
ments is the determination of the effect of the
thoughts of the sitters upon the motion, either
ordinary objective thoughts or subconscious
ones. How far can we be sure that the move-
ments are due to external agencies and how far
to ourselves! For my part I do not think that
any strict line of demarcation can be drawn. I
have often found that messages thus delivered
are a mixture of the real thing and the false
and that absolute reliance cannot be placed upon
them. Nearly everybody who has experi-\
mented is aware of the sometimes unsatisfac-
tory character of such messages. A name, for
instance, is being laboriously spelt out and the
spelling breaks down in the middle so that the
word cannot be completed, and if attempts are
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
58 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
made to complete it, only worse confusion en-
sues; some simple sentence becomes inextric-
ably mixed up with another; two entities seem-
ingly try to communicate at the same time;
and so on. I have known many cases in which
the answers received have been obviously due
■, to the thoughts of the sitters, either subliminal
[or objective, and to nothing else whatever. It
was perfectly apparent that no spirit entity
had anything to do with them. On the other
hand I know of some cases where brief but
genuine messages have been received — proved
genuine by corroborative phenomena at the
same or a subsequent seance. A favourite ex-
planation for the confusion and uncertainty
arising from these "contact 1 ' messages among
spiritualists is that two or more spirits in dif-
ferent " planes' 9 are trying to operate the table
at the same time, existing on different planes
they cannot see each other and are otherwise
totally unaware of each other's presence. This
is a plausible enough explanation but is suspect.
More likely the cause lies in the imperfect
means of communication, the lack of a strong
medium, and in the physical contact between
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF SPIRITUALISM 59
hands of sitters (and hence their brains) and
the table. It is my experience that whenever!
opportunities are given, the inhabitants of the
next state endeavour to open up communication
with this ; so one can be pretty sure that when
any circle of earnest enquirers sits round a
table and gives as good conditions as possible,
everything will be done that can be done from /
the other side. There is no need to put down
any confused messages to lack of will to com-
municate on the part of our friends across the
barrier. Their world is not a world of chaos
but one of orderly and systematic endeavour.
They do all the real work'at seances and it is to
be presumed they labour in a consistent and
regulated manner.
Sometimes, however, the experimenter will
find that he is able to obtain what look like
genuine messages by means of a tilting table ;
and he will find that if he is enthusiastic and
tries to give the best possible conditions which
experience shows him are necessary for phen-
omena, that the clarity and length of the mes-
sages are likely to improve. For it is only by
persistence that anything worth having can be
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
60 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
obtained in the psychic world. The dttettmte
gets nothing. Many people seem to forget that
the entities operating from the next state have
themselves to experiment with every circle
which is formed before even the slightest phe-
nomenon can be produced, and that sometimes
the sitters do not form an ideal combination
from this point of view, with the consequence
that their psychic emanations have to be mixed
and worked up for quite a long time before de-
Fcent results can ensue. So that it is only to the
earnest enquirer that phenomena come. In
my opinion the home circle is the place at which
one should attempt to communicate with one's
nearest and dearest. A good home circle meet-
ing for an hour or an hour and a half once a
week and composed only of the members of
one's own family or of close friends, is in the
end productive of more satisfactory personal
results than an eternal hunt after advanced
professional psychics. Certainly everyone
should take opportunities for witnessing ad-
vanced phases of phenomena, but no reliance
should be placed on such occasional exhibitions
for anything in the way of personal communion
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF SPIEITUALISM 61
with particular persons in the Beyond. Ma-
terialisation, direct voice, etc, are very useful
in bringing home to one's mind the reality of
the next life, but the harmonious home circle
with its table tilting, bits of clairvoyance, clair-
audience, and so on, and minus the professional
medium, is the best means of getting into touch,
even though it may be only in a fitful way, with j
one's own relatives.
Eeturning for a little to movements of the
table under contact. I remember it was
through this simple means I was led to take an
interest in the subject (as I daresay it is with
many people). A number of us had been sit-
ting round a small table in the usual way and
had obtained the usual tiltings and usual mixed-
up messages, when suddenly the table twisted
round under our hands and did not stop until
it had turned through nearly a complete revo-
lution. It did this two or three times. The
movement, which was so obviously not pro-
duced by any of us present and which we did
not expect — this simple little turning movement
— caused the first glimmer of doubt in my mind
that all the table tiltings, etc., were due to sub-
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
62 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
conscious action of the sitters, as I had strongly
held np to that time. From that moment—
now years ago— I decided to investigate the
matter thoroughly. When one looks back it
seems rather amusing to observe from what
small things one's convictions spring.
Now, while I have been careful to state that
in the majority of cases of movement of a table
under contact that the results are to a large
extent uncertain, and that great common-sense
and discrimination should be used by enquirers,
yet it would not be fair to inexperienced read-
ers if I did not say that sometimes, if one of
the circle has mediumistic tendencies somewhat
in excess of the average, very good results can
be obtained. It is found that in many families
one or more of its members possesses some-
what pronounced physical mediumship; not
sufficiently strong to bring about movements
without contact, but much stronger than is
usual and such that when he or she places hands
on the table along with the hands of the mem-
bers of the circle, very powerful and even vio-
lent movements of the table take place; the
action in these oases being often purely psychio
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF SPIRITUALISM 63
and having practically nothing to do with the
exertion of muscular force. I am personally
acquainted with the members of several snch
circles. At a seance with one of these, all hands
being placed lightly on top of the table, the
table, which weighed at least twenty pounds,
rose completely into the air — this being the
only case of levitation with contact that I have
witnessed, although the phenomenon is said to
be fairly common. At another of these circles
some vigorous entity seemingly took charge
of the table (he gave a name and other par-
ticulars) for with only a few hands lightly rest-
ing on its surface I was unable, although I ex-
erted all my force standing directly over it, to
prevent it moving, twisting about, and dancing
on the floor. Yet these two friends of mine, to
whose mediumship the phenomena were due,
were not sufficiently strong, psychically speak-
ing, to obtain phenomena without contact.
They were contact mediums only. I rather
think that in true psychic phenomena with con-
tact, i. e., where the muscles of the medium are
not used to produce the table movements, the
spirit entities first of all "draw" from the sit-
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
64 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
ters a quantity of psychic fluid and probably
connect this to the fluid emanations of the me-
dium, i. e., attach it to his aura so as to strength-
en it. They then apply forces to different parts
of the table as they do in non-contact phenom-
ena by means of rod-like projections from the
auric sheath of the medium. The reaction would
thus probably be found on the medium as it is in
the case of non-contact phenomena. Any reader
of these notes who has attended a few circles
will be aware of the cold breeze which is often
felt on the hands for a little time at the com-
mencement of the sitting; and perhaps, also,
of a peculiar kind of tingling of the finger tips
and even of a cobwebby sensation on the face
and hands ; also, sometimes a feeling of nerv-
ous irritation as though something was being
drawn out of the body. These things usually
happen only at the beginning of the seance and
are in abeyance later on. What they really
mean is probably that the operators are ab-
stracting from the bodies of the sitters particles
of nervous matter; are causing a flow, as it
\ were, from their bodies. Normally, I expect
that the aura, the nervous enswathement of the
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF SPIRITUALISM 65
body, is in a state of equilibrium, but that the
operators can act on it and project it to a con-
siderable distance from the body. When the
hands of the sitters are in contact with the wood
of the table, the spirit operators, acting as they
must from within the body outwards, can pro-
ject these auric or nervous emanations into
space more easily than if there was an air gap
to cross, as in non-contact phenomena. The ema-
nation when projected, clings to the wood, and
does not tend to dissipate itself in the air. It can
therefore be more easily collected and concen-
trated in the immediate neighbourhood of the
table than would be the case if it were thrown
from the body into the air with no conducting
medium to help.
It is interesting to speculate about the why
and wherefore of such phenomena even though
there is very little to go on in the way of ex-
perimental results. I have certainly received
messages via the table stating that the spirit
entities mix the psychic or nervous emanations
of the sitters and that sometimes there is diffi-
culty in getting these emanations to blend, this
especially being so if the circle is a promiscu-
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
66 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
cms one. And my observations on non-contact
phenomena lead me to believe there is a certain
amount of truth in the statement. For in-
stance, in seance rooms where tables were
moved without physical contact, I found that
after a sitting was well started, I was always
unable to charge an electroscope, even though I
tried to do so in a corner of the chamber far-
thest from the medium. In order to charge it
I had to take it outside the room. I asked the
operators if there was any "power" in the
seance room so far away from the medium and
they answered by raps that there was. By
"power" I understood them to mean particles
of matter taken from the medium. They al-
ways called everything of this nature "power."
I take it that some of the nervous particles from
medium and sitters were probably floating
about in the air — particles which had got out of
control, as it were. Indeed, it is not hard to
imagine this is so. For occasionally I have felt
a peculiar tension of the nerves in the seance
room as though external charged particles were
interacting with my nervous system. I did not
feel this very strongly or very often at my Bel-
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OP SPIRITUALISM 67
fast experimental circle, owing, presumably to
the nervous currents being so rigorously under
control there. But with other mediums and cir-
cles I have felt it very violently. As a case in
point I remember I was once sitting beside a
friend at a public meeting, when he suddenly
commenced to shiver and give spasmodic jerks
of the body and limbs, and to present, in short,
all the symptoms of being under strong "con-
trol." He tried in vain to throw the influence
off but did not succeed, and had finally to leave
the room. As I say, I was sitting beside him,
but I was not in physical contact with him. But
while the spasmodic jerking was occurring, I
felt a most peculiar electrical kind of tension
all over my body; not a jerky muscular feeling,
but a sensation as though my nervous system
was highly " charged.' ' The feeling disap-
peared as soon as my friend left the hall. What
had been happening! Possibly some spirit en-
tity was endeavouring to take control of him
(as a matter of fact he said he recognised his
chief "guide"), was acting on my friend's
nervous system, was throwing off into space
surrounding him nervous streams, or nervous
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
68 HINTS AND OBSEEVATIONS
particles, or was acting on or expanding his
aura, with the consequence that my own nerv-
ous system or auric enswathement came into
the region of disturbance and was thereby af-
fected.
I remember that on another occasion some-
thing of a similar nature occurred. A young
lady was showing me some of the phenomena
she could obtain with the table. She was a
powerful "contact" medium and no sooner did
she place her hands on the edge of a heavy table
than it moved about in an extraordinarily vio-
lent manner. I was standing near the table, a
couple of feet away from the medium. Sud-
denly I felt a violent muscular contraction in
the chest, and this was succeeded in a few sec-
onds by another. At the same time the whole
of the little room seemed to be highly charged
with a species of electrical tension which im-
pinged upon and strongly affected the whole of
my own nervous system. So violent were the
sensations that I had in the end to leave the
room. And I experienced disagreeable twitch-
ings and a nervous exaltation round the surface
of the body for more than an hour afterwards.
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF SPIRITUALISM 69
It seems likely that the nervous emanations
projected from the medium were in this case
of so violent a character that they were sent
out into space for a considerable distance round
her and impinged upon and affected my system
of nervous equilibrium. Psychic energy must
come from somewhere and there is every reason
to suppose, as I have mentioned, that a lot of
it comes from the bodies of the medium and sit-
ters in the room. The field for research here is
vast, and I for one, if I can find the time, in-
tend to experiment in this domain.
Only persons who feel a strong desire tha$
way should investigate spiritualism. It is not
a matter of an evening's fun. The subject
should only be approached in a reverent and
enquiring spirit, all levity of a hilarious kind
being strictly prohibited. For it is a sufficiently
serious matter to meet together with the ob-
ject of opening up communication across the
bridge of death, as many of us believe is the
case. We are, at the very least, delving into
the unknown, and it behooves us to protect our-
selves by behaving in a serious and becoming
way. I know enough from practical acquaint-
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
70 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
anoe with the subject to Bay that it is only by
looking upon the matter in a serious light that
any results of value can be obtained. I do not
mean, of course, that when we assemble for a
seance we should be pervaded with a gloomy
and solemn spirit That is quite unnecessary
and deleterious to good phenomena. But there
should[ be no behaviour of a childish or silly
kind.
I During sittings the mind should be kept in
a state of gentle relaxation — there should be
no mental concentration. Too much attention
should not be paid to any phenomena occur-
ring, the reason being that when the brain is
in a state of concentration experiments show
that operators — those who produce the phe-
nomena — have difficulty in establishing the es-
sential flow of psychic energy from the bodies
of the sitters. Why this should be so I do not
pretend to know, but that it is so I have no
doubt whatever. No troubles or worries of any
kind should be brought to the seance room. The
mind should be in a placid cheerful state. The
better the physical health, the more cheerful
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF SPIEITUAUSM 71
and happy the spirit, the better the phenomena,
other things being equal.
No heavy meals should be partaken of for
some hours before a seance. The members con-
stituting the circle should assemble half an
hour or so before the sitting and listen to a
little good music, played perhaps by one of
them on the piano or organ. This aids mental
harmony and gives the right atmosphere for
the seance to follow. It had also another ob-
ject in that — as I believe — it enables the spirit
operators to establish preliminary contact with/
the members of the circle.
I am going now to describe, in some detail,
the method used in holding an ordinary "con-
tact" seance, i. e., a seance in which the mem-
bers of the circle place their hands on the sur-
face of the table. This, as I have already said,
is a very elementary method of holding com-
munication with unseen intelligences; but, un-
fortunately, it is the only one possible or prob-
able for the great majority of investigators.
Under good conditions, however, it is a fairly
satisfactory method and may possibly lead to
higher and more advanced phases of phenom-
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
72 HINTS AND OBSEEVATIONS
ena. In any case the hints that I am en-
abled to give are all from practical experience,
and will, most of them, apply to all sorts of
physical phenomena. There is a line of con-
tinuity about these things, from elementary to
most advanced, which is more real than ap-
parent.
Of course the experimenter must rely for
evidence only on the messages he receives
through the tilting table. If he goes about the
matter in the proper way he may be surprised
at what will come to him through this simple
means, I say nothing of that here. It is my
function to show the thing is done — to explain
the mechanism as far as possible — and to let
him cogitate over and analyse the results.
i r Let me summarise. If five or six people sit
round a small ordinary wooden table and place
their hands palm downwards lightly on its sur-
face, the table may sooner or later rock about
or tilt up and down. This movement of the
table may conceivably be accomplished in one
of three ways : —
(1) The table may be consciously moved by
muscular pressure from the sitters.
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF SPIRITUALISM 73
(2) The table may be unconsciously moved
by muscular pressure from the sitters.
(3) The table may be moved without the aid
of muscular action at all.
It is only of the last type of movement I wish
to speak, for it is a true psychic action which
may not only cause the table to rock up and
down, but may even make it rotate under the
hands of the sitters, may cause it to dance about
the floor of the room, and even in extreme cases
levitate — i. e., rise bodily off the floor. The
sitters, it is understood, are only touching the
top of the table lightly with the palms of their
hands or with their finger tips. When the
table thus moves about by the true action of
psychic force upon it, it seems to possess a
peculiar attribute of inherent liveliness and
lightness, very obvious to the sitters, who soon
become convinced that its motions are quite in-
dependent of muscular pressure. On the other
hand, if the psychic force is absent or is not
being applied, the table feels heavy and dead.
What causes the table to move if muscular
force has nothing to do with the matter? Up
to the time of my experiments on table move-
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
74 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
ments without contact, I do not think anyone
had much idea. But I fancy the matter is a lit-
tle clearer now. Arguing on the basis of non-
contact phenomena what probably happens is
that psychic arms — invisible and impalpable —
project themselves from the person who is me-
diumistio, these arms being supplied with en-
ergy from the bodies of the sitters. Briefly,
the medium supplies the psychic arm and the
sitters the energy required to work it. If there
be no medium present no psychic arm can be
projected and no phenomena can ensue though
all the sitters may be able to give forth psychic
energy in abundance. Hence it does not fol-
low that because a person is robust in health
that he must of necessity be a good physical
medium.
These invisible psychic arms probably grip
the table by adhesion to its under surface or
legs and thus bring about the movements which
appear so mysterious. I must refer the reader
who is interested in this phase of the subject
to my book "The Reality of Psychic Phe-
nomena," * where full experimental details are
•Published 1918, by E. P. Dntton & Company, New York.
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OP SPIEITUALISM 75
given of tests made with, phenomena of the non-
contact type.
Why is it so much easier for the unseen en-
tities to move the table, i. e., to apply psychic
force to it, when the hands of the sitters are
in gentle contact with it than when no one is
touching it! Possibly and probably because
they find it a great deal easier to abstract
psychic energy from the sitters and store it
within the fibres of the wood of the table when
the sitters' hands are in contact with the wood
than when there is no contact. For I have rea-
son to believe that the energy required to bring
about the movements — i. e., to account for the
work done, is really stored within the wood of
the table and used as occasion demands.
What are the best conditions for obtaining
good psychic movements of the table ? The first
essential, of course, is the presence of a phys-
ical medium. In many families, as I have al-
ready said, there are one or more members who
are sufficiently mediumistic to allow of the dis-
play of " contact* 9 phenomena.
A circle of sitters is necessary to support the
medium, i. e., to give off psychic energy so that
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
76 HINTS AND OBSEEVATIONS
the psychic arms may be enabled to move the
table about The number of persons compos-
ing the circle should, in general, be about five
and should not exceed seven, at any rate in the
home circle.
The sitters should sit on wooden chairs —
never on cushions if it can be avoided. They
should make themselves quite comfortable.
They should place their hands lightly on the
surface of the table, palms downwards, the lit-
tle finger of each hand touching the little finger
of the hand of the sitter on the other side, but
their own hands not in contact. The reason
for this last is that the psychic fluid — prob-
ably a very attenuated form of matter with
which is associated psychic energy — is caused
to circulate through the bodies of the sitters,
gaining strength from each, and if a person's
own hands are in contact there is, to use an
electrical analogy, the likelihood of a short cir-
cuit, with the consequences that his share of
the energy cannot be taken. For a similar rea-
son the legs must not be crossed but must be
planted firmly on the floor. After the seance
has been in operation for some time, say for
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF SPIRITUALISM 77
half an hour, these precautions may be sen-
sibly relaxed without injury to phenomena, as
by that time a large store of psychic energy
has probably been accumulated. If a cold
breeze is felt playing about the hands it may
be taken as a certain sign that psychic ac-
tion is under way. The fingers of some of the
circle may also become cold and some may
experience a cobwebby sensation about the face,
which are also signs of psychic action. After
a while the cold breeze usually ceases and the
fingers become warm, probably due to the fact
that the withdrawal of psychic energy has
ceased or is complete.
The disposition of the sitters round the table
is important. Generally speaking the two sexes
should alternate although the rule is not with-
out exception. Anyhow at a first sitting let the
men and women sit alternately. If phenomena
are not obtained try various alterations. Even
if phenomena are obtained take the advice of
the operating entities as to the permanent dis-
position of the sitters. The reason why some
arrangements of the sitters are good and some
bad has probably to do with the ability of the
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
78 HINTS AND OBSEEVATIONS
various members of the circle to supply psychic
energy. To take a mechanical analogy, the sit-
ters may be likened to a lot of steam engines
of different types and sizes. Some are able
to produce more work than others. In arrang-
ing such a series of engines so that they would
all work together and give the maximum com-
bined amount of work, we should have to be
careful we did not set any one of them to work
against another and cause neutralisation of
effort; and further, it would be better to ar-
range them in a series of gradation as regards
size, so that a small one was not working be-
side a large one and so on. The reader will
thus see the underlying idea in having the
proper arrangement of sitters.
The type of table used in these experiments
is of some importance if good results are hoped
for. To begin with, it should be made of wood,
and a wood of not too great density. Ordinary
deal is, I think, the most suitable. The wood
must not be painted or stained or touched in
any way, the reason for this being that experi-
mental work shows that the psychic arms — -
those usually invisible and impalpable struo-
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF SPIEITUALISM 79
tures which grip the table and move it about
(at any rate in non-contact phenomena) are
able to act best on the plain wood. The rougher
the surfaces, within limits, the better. Polished
bodies, whether of metal or of wood, are dis-
liked by these arms as they cannot get a grip
on such surfaces. In fact, during experimental
investigation, I have always to place a rough
piece of cloth over any surface which is pol-
ished and upon which I wish psychic force to
be exerted. An open porous wood is also best
for the reason that the psychic energy — which,
as I have already said, seems to be associated
with matter in one of its finest forms — appears
to be required to be stored up in the wood, and
if the latter is too dense and hard, these par-
ticles of matter cannot effect a satisfactory
lodgment.
I do not recommend that the surface of the
table be made round. I think an ordinary rec-
tangular one is best with its corners left quite
square. In fact, as a general rule, it may be
stated that there should be nothing at all
rounded or curved about the seance table. The
legs should be square. No edges should be
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
80 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
bevelled. The reason for all this is that ex-
periment shows that the free end of the psychic
arm grips by adhesion, and that, like the hu-
man hand, it can get the best grip on a corner
or edged surface.
The weight of the table should, generally
speaMng, not exceed ten or twelve pounds. For
we have to remember that the heavier the table
the more work is done in moving it ; and, as the
bodies of the sitters in all probability supply
this energy, it follows that the less energy re-
quired the less the drain on the members com-
posing the circle. If possible the table should
be constructed without nails, screws, or metal
clamps of any kind; but if it is necessary to use
any nails or screws they should be well bedded
into the wood and their heads covered with
putty. The dimensions of the table should "be
about thirty inches by twenty inches on top, its
height about twenty-seven inches, it should have
four legs and cross-bars joining the legs near
the bottom. It should also have, if possible, a
flat piece of wood about a foot above the floor
fitted in between the legs. The table should
be pretty firmly and strongly made, as some-
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF SPIBITUALISM 81
times the movements due to psychio^laction be-
come fairly violent— especially towards the end
of the seance — and it is likely to come in for
hard usage.
If the experimenter does not wish to go to
the trouble of getting a table as outlined above,
a little bamboo one weighing four or five
pounds, such as is used for holding ornaments,
will be found quite useful, especially if there
are only two or three sitters. But I recommend
all who are in earnest about the matter to have
a proper table made, which should be used for
no other purpose than for seances.
The seance room should be in a quiet part
of the house and as far removed as possible
from street noises and the like. It should not
be too large. It should be well ventilated, and,
if the higher phenomena are desired, the venti-
lation system must not allow of external light
entering the chamber. The temperature of the
room is also an important factor if we desire
good phenomena. About 65° Fahrenheit seems
to be the best. Apart from inconvenience to the
sitters caused by temperatures much higher or
lower than this, the psychic emanations from
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
82 HINTS AND OBSEEVATIONS
the bodies of the medium and sitters are also
probably to some extent adversely affected— it
being probably a question of chemistry. Ex-
perimenters have found that a wet or moist
condition of the atmosphere is deleterious to
phenomena, the dry, electrical condition being
most advantageous. Perhaps the presence of
an undue quantity of water vapour in the air
causes reaction upon the psychic stuff present
in the chamber, the action again being a chemi-
cal one.
The question of lighting the seance room is
an important one. Indeed, I may say that the
light question has been the most troublesome
one throughout the whole history of psychic re-
search. The plain fact of the matter is that
anything like advanced phenomena cannot be
obtained in any but the feeblest of light. Of
course there are very good reasons for this
state of things, but nevertheless it is very an-
noying. Perhaps, generally speaking, the fact
that nothing of any magnitude can be obtained
in ordinary light is a provision of nature, for
otherwise, I suspect this world of ours would
be continually under impact from the realms
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF SPIRITUALISM 83
psychic. The chief specific reason for the neces-
sity of absence of light seems to lie in the fact
that ether light vibrations prevent the efflux of
psychic energy from the bodies of the sitters, or
else inhibit the invisible emanations from the
body of the medium; that is to say, the ether
ripples interact on psychic stuff generally and
break it down.
For advanced phenomena I have only been
able to use a red light, i. e., the kind of light
in which the ether vibrations are slowest. How-
ever, for contact phenomena such as I have
been considering, we need not, fortunately, be
so rigorous. If the seance is held at night it
is generally sufficient to pull down the blinds
and put a screen in front of the fire, the gas
or other lights being lowered. Have no illu-
mination, or very little, on the top or under
surface of the table. If the experimenter de-
sires to have the best results and does not mind
going to some trouble, he should instal a sys-
tem of red illumination. If gas is the illumi-
nant, it is easy to fix it inside a lantern hav-
ing red glass front and sides. If electricity is
available, red glass globes can be used, and
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
84 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
if fine gradation is essential, a resistance may
be placed in the circuit so that the intensity of
illumination may be increased or decreased at
will. For the higher phenomena, such as move-
ments without contact, a proper lighting sys-
tem is essential, and this means also a special
room kept for nothing but seances. Also in this
case a proper method of heating the room is re-
quired, no open fires being possible. Various
gas and electric stoves can be obtained which
give out heat but no light, and one of these
should be installed, or a little ingenuity in the
use of asbestos sheet can prevent light rays
from being projected into the room if an ordi-
nary heating stove is used (of course an ordi-
nary gas burner or electric light should also
be in the room so that the chamber may be
normally lighted except during the time of the
actual seance). But these precautions are only
necessary for the major phenomena and are not
needed for motion of a table with contact.
Many mediums can obtain with contact good
psychic movements of the table in fairly strong
daylight, and most can obtain them in a light
comparable to the dusk of evening. Let each
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF SPIEITUALISM 85
experimenter try for himself and discover the
maximum of light possible consistent with good
results.
The inhibiting properties of actinic light are
sometimes) useful. For occasionally towards
the end of a seance the table movements become
very strong — stronger, in fact, than is agreeable
if the mediumship is a little above the average
— and if that is so these motions may be imme-
diately stopped by shining a strong light on and
around about the table top, i.e., the gas need
only be turned on full.
At the conclusion of the seance the members
composing the circle should clasp hands in chain
order for about a minute, a request being made
at the same time to the entities controlling the
circle that the loss of psychic energy due to the
phenomena should be averaged up amongst the
sitters. I have found that this method really
has some value and prevents undue depletion
from anyone from whom the psychic flow can be
easily started.
I am going now to describe some experi-
mental work which can be done on contact phe-
nomena. The apparatus is comparatively sim-
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
86 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
pie and may be constructed by anyone possess-
ing a little ingenuity. I am aware that many
investigators of this subject would like to test
the matter in a more rigorous manner than is
possible in the ordinary way.
Figure 1 shows the type of table I have
employed at many of my experimental seances.
Its construction will be readily understood from
the photograph, although the reader will note
that there is no underleaf such as I have rec-
ommended previously, the reason for this being
that with experimental work it is advisable to
have the legs clear of all encumbrances.
Figure 2 shows the underside of the table
and the construction adopted in order to use
as few nails as possible.
Figures 3 and 4 show the table fitted up for
experimental work.
Briefly the object of the apparatus on the top
of the table is to prevent muscular pressure,
or at least to render the fact of muscular pres-
sure immediately known.
Figure 5 is a plan of the top of the table. A
rectangular piece of wood (E) is screwed to
the centre of the table; four thin flat pieces
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
Fig. 1
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
Fig. 2
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
Ftg. 3
Digitized by CjOOQ IC
Fig. 4
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF SPIRITUALISM 87
of wood A, B, C, and D are hinged to E,
so that they can move freely np and down.
Underneath each of these flat pieces of wood a
small piece of helical spring is fixed to the sur-
face of the table, and each of the flat pieces rests
A
■1
'
1-
1
t
c
Fig. 5
on the top of the spring. Upon the surface of
the table and upon the lower surfaces of A, B, C,
and D, metal contacts are fixed, which are con-
nected together by insulated copper wire and
put in the circuit of an electric ball which is
fixed upon the wall. Across the centre of A,
B, C, and D a chalk line is drawn. The pres-
sure necessary upon A, B, C, or D to cause
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
88 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
the contacts to meet and the bell to ring can be
ascertained by placing weights upon them. The
sitters must be instructed not to place their fin-
gers beyond the chalk lines. A good way to
adjust the apparatus is to place a small weight
anywhere on A, B, C, or D, outside the chalk
line, and thus cause the bell to ring, A very
little manipulation will soon enable the experi-
menter to so arrange matters that the bell will
ring for any pressure exceeding, say, half a
pound.
The table is suspended by four cords as
shown in figures 3 and 4 and is hung from a
circular spring balance which is fixed to the
roof. The legs should clear the floor by a dis-
tance of 3 inches or 4 inches. The four sitters
forming the circle should then sit upon wooden
chairs and place their fingers lightly beyond the
chalk lines upon A, B, C, and D, respectively.
The experimenter should satisfy himself that
the bell will ring for any combined pressure
greater than, say, a couple of pounds. The se-
ance should then be allowed to proceed in the
usual way. If the mediumship be fairly strong
it will be found that the table will soon begin
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF SPIRITUALISM 89
to oscillate about and jump and down. A re-
quest should then be made to the operators that
a downward force be put upon the table without
causing the bell to ring. This may not be very
successful at first, but sooner or later it will
be found that the spring balance will indicate
a considerable downward pull — much in excess
of that possible by muscular pressure from the
sitters without causing the bell to ring. Also
a request may be made that the table be pulled
or pushed upwards without the bell ringing,
and this will probably be also found possi-
ble.
The following are some of the results that I
have obtained with apparatus such as described.
With the hands of the sitters lightly touch-
ing the top of the contact apparatus I have
had the table pulled downwards with the force
of 27y 2 lbs. in excess of the weight of the table,
and I have had it pushed or pulled upwards
with a force of 12 or 14 lbs., that is to say, with
a force practically equal to its weight. Not
once, but dozens of times have I had such results
as these, which show beyond the possibility of
doubt that the pressure applied to the table was
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
90 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
not a muscular one but was due to pure psychic
action. The reader, if he goes along such lines,
will probably be able to satisfy himself in the
same way. If he wish to proceed further he
may place a small platform weighing machine
on the floor beside the table, and he may seat
the medium on a chair placed upon the platform,
and in this way he will be able to note the ef-
fect on the medium's weight of the various
psychic pressures exerted on the table. I have
a large series of such results, but I will not give
them here. I would rather the reader experi-
ment for himself and come to his own conclu-
sions. It will be found that if the mediumship
present is at all strong the contact phenomena
may quickly develop into the non-contact va-
riety, in which case the reader will understand
that he may proceed to experiment along simi-
lar lines. He will probably find that the meth-
ods made use of by the operators are similar
in both cases though differing somewhat in de-
gree.
Let me now proceed to state some of the con-
ditions and precautions that must be observed
if good non-contact phenomena are expected.
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF SPIRITUALISM 91,
In the first place it is useless to expect much in
the way of this kind of phenomena unless the
experimenter is prepared to go to considerable
tronble. The lighting will have to be attended
to carefully, for probably nothing will be ob-
tained if any daylight enters the seance cham-
ber. An artificial light will have to be resorted
to, and the only kind of light possible, as I have
already explained, is a red one. The sitters
will have to attend regularly, once a week prob-
ably for months on end. They should keep to
a definite hour for each sitting, and nothing, ex-
cept the impossible, should prevent the seance
being duly held at that particular hour. The
table should be placed within the centre of the
circle, but the sitters, instead of placing their
hands upon its surface, should clasp each other's
hands in chain order. Figure 1 shows a cor-
rect method of holding the medium's hands,
where it will be seen that the fingers are com-
paratively free — the reason for this being that
experiments show that the psychic fluid issues
most easily from the extremities, either hands
or feet. It is not necessary that the medium
should go into trance for non-contact phenom-
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
92 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
ena; indeed she may be as wide awake as any
of the members of the circle, even while phe-
nomena of tremendous magnitude are occur-
ring. At the same time if the medium evinces
any desire to go into trance nothing should be
done to prevent her, for she will be quite safe
if the circle is being conducted on satisfactory
lines. It is possible that for several months no
phenomena at all will be obtained, while on
the other hand phenomena may occur within
five minutes of the red light being turned on.
The kinds of phenomena to be expected are
raps, movements, and levitation of the table.
If raps occur it will be very soon found that
there is some conscious intelligence behind
them. A code should then be arranged with
this intelligence, say three raps for "yes," one
for "no" and two for "doubtful." Messages
may also be arranged for, by a rap being given
for any particular letter of the alphabet as it
is spelt out. Above all I would impress upon
the reader the fact that non-contact phenomena
are of a somewhat advanced type, and that if he
expects to get them he will have probably to go
to considerable trouble, and perhaps inconve-
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OP SPIRITUALISM 93
nience; nevertheless, I am sure that this type
of phenomena is not at all beyond the medium-
ship of a great many persons, and I expect to
see it develop greatly in the future.
It has been found from experience that the
effect of music at seances is to heighten and
make easier the phenomenal effects obtained*
Good harmonious singing has certainly a ben-
eficial effect Organ music greatly assists
things at materialisation sittings, and during
seances for all kinds of phenomena a little sing-
ing should be indulged in. How does music
help? In my opinion in two ways. The first
and most obvious is that it soothes the minds
of those present, and experience proves that for
the best results an equable condition of mind is
essential Any anxiety, worry, or mental dis-
turbance brought into the stance room is very
deleterious to the production of good phenom-
ena. A light-hearted, hopeful, buoyant spirit
is by far the best. The operating entities find
a heavy, melancholy condition of mind almost
impossible to work with, for the reader should
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
94 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
remember there is much reason to suppose that
even for physical phenomena the brains of the
sitters are. impressed; I mean that the flow of
nervous energy is probably started, or at any
rate partly started, by impression on portions
of the brain. Hence the beneficial effect of good
music upon the spirits of the sitters is a direct
aid to the production of phenomena. But
music, for physical phenomena, at least, has a
second and perhaps more important function.
This seems to be nothing less than to set the
air into a state of rhythmic stress. It is well
known that sound is transmitted by waves in
the air, alternate rarefactions and compres-
sions. It would appear that when the flabiness,
as it were, has been taken out of the air by set-
ting it into an initial state of slight vibratory
stress by the action of sound waves, the spirit
operators can work to the best advantage. The
same kind of thing is not unknown in ordinary
experimental work. As a case in point I may
cite an experiment often performed in mechan-
ics laboratories, where a long cord of india-rub-
ber has weights applied to its end in order that
the elongation produced may be measured. To
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF SPIRITUALISM 95
take the initial looseness out of the cord, a very
small weight is first hung on it and this weight
is not counted in subsequent computations.
That is to say, to get the best effects and to
render the calculations accurate, the cord is
first put into a slight state of stress. So it is,
I opine, with the air in the seance room. The
operators find it easier to throw out their psy-
chic projections if the air is in a state of slight
initial vibratory stress, and they find this is
best brought about by music and especially by
the deep notes of the organ. There is a reason,
if we can only find it, for everything, and it is
wise to seek the why and wherefore of things
in the deep and mysterious processes connected
with psychic phenomena.
Nearly all physical seances, from the most
elementary to the most advanced, can be di-
vided into two fairly well-marked stages. There
is fhe stage of preparation or of psychic in-
stability, and the stage of psychic equilibrium.
In the former the various initiatory processes
are set in operation which presently result in
phenomena. The preparatory part of the st-
ance time is required, I think, chiefly to set
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
96 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
processes going which result in a supply of
psychic energy being obtained from the bodies
of the sitters. The nervous twitching of the
body often experienced at or near the com-
mencement of seances is visible evidence of this
fact. The duration of the initial stage is af-
fected by many things, the health and harmony
of the sitters, and the state of the weather be-
ing perhaps the most important If all or most
of the essential conditions are good, the prepar-
atory stage is usually over very quickly. I have
seen phenomena commence the moment the red
light was turned on, and on the other hand, with
the same sitters and conditions apparently the
same, I have seen them delayed for half an
hour; thus the importance of going to consid-
erable trouble with details.
I have no doubt whatever that the operators
— i.e., the entities producing the phenomena,
whether the reader look upon such entities as
spirits, our subconscious selves, or extra-ter-
restrial intelligences — have to do a good deal of
experimenting in order to obtain satisfactory
results. I have many times watched them ex-
perimenting in order to bring about some par-
Digitized by CjOOQIC.
PHENOMENA OF SPIEITUALISM 97
ticmlar phenomenon they desired; they would
keep trying even after repeated failures, and
would not give in until success was actually at-
tained or until they realised that what they
wished was impossible of accomplishment. I
do not doubt that even the simplest phenomena
require quite a lot of testing and working up
before a successful result is reached— for it
must be remembered that these entities are not
working miraculously but are making use of
natural laws that we of this world know little
about at present. A time is coming, of course,
when we shall know quite a lot about them, but
that time is not yet.
Above all, whether the experimenter accepts
the spirit hypothesis or not he should remember
at the very least that he is impinging upon the
realm of unknown energies and intelligences
and should therefore only touch the matter if
he is prepared to give it proper attention. If
he could have a peep behind the scenes while
even such an elementary form of phenomena as
table movements is taking place, he would prob-
ably be greatly surprised at what he would see.
My deliberate opinion, after some years of re-
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
98 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
search in this field, is that it requires the co-
operation and work of many unseen entities to
produce physical phenomena. All the real
work is done on their side of the line and all we
do when we sit in the seance room is to supply
suitable conditions. That is to say, the sitters
are only the instruments through whom the
work is done.
The reality of psychic phenomena is nowa-
days little disputed. In a short time such phe-
nomena will be classified and indexed and form
part of the acknowledged scientific facts of the
day. It would have been so long ere this but
for the intolerable amount of humbug and de-
liberate fraud formerly connected with the sub-
ject. One cannot even yet be too careful in
'"treading its thorny paths. The professional
medium who takes large fees must always be
under the temptation to fraud if for any cause
phenomena should temporarily be lacking in
•quantity or quality. Some there are who, to
their honour be it said, do not fall; others axe
suspect. It may be said, speaking generally,
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF SPIRITUALISM 99
that the psychic who can show something in the
way of physical phenomena, such as telekinesis,
direct voice, materialisation, etc., is most worth
while. My advice to the enquirer into things
psychic is to take nothing for granted and to
leave tHe paid mediums alone as far as possible.
Depend more on the family circle or on circles
made np of intimate friends. Go only to me-
diums who have a very clean record if you go
at all. Ask help from people who from long
experience in this work can really give you good
advice. For the pitfalls are many and if not
careful you may one fine morning find your
faith in the realities of a next world shattered
by the discovery that some imposition has been
practised upon you. I do not wish unduly to
alarm any reader who may know little of the
subject. As a matter of fact I have come to the
conclusion that the fraud hypothesis has been
rather overdone in the past and that there is
really much less imposture than is supposed..
Nevertheless it is well to be on the safe side:
and to recognise that it exists.
I suppose few people have had the opportu-
nity or the inclination to make such a prolonged
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
100 HINTS AND OBSEKVATIONS
and almost microscopical investigation into
some of the advanced phrases of spiritualistic
phenomena as I have carried ont; carried out
with the help only of personal friends and tin-
der the most harmonious and perfect condi-
tions ; where the object of all was only to dis-
cover the truth, whatever that truth might be.
Few have had the chance of examining the evi-
dence for so long or so thoroughly; of weigh-
ing up the various inferences and little things
which occur at the seances in a manner that at
last brings absolute conviction to the mind.
For while it is true that the major phenomena,
such as prolonged levitation under experimental
conditions, can be reported to the world satis-
factorily; while it is true that the reaction fig-
ures can be given, the effect on the weight of the
medium due to the occurrence of the phenom-
ena, and so on, there are a hundred and one
things occurring at the sittings which cannot be
reduced to figures, which cannot be satisfac-
torily reported to the outside world, but which
are nevertheless full of evidential value to the
persons present. As I say, I have probed into
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF SPIRITUALISM: 101
this matter very minutely and I am now satis-
fied that man survives death.
If we glance over the range of psychic phe-
nomena — a tremendous range — we are irresis-
tibly led to the conclusions that either (1) man
survives death and the phenomena and happen-
ings of the seance room are due to disembodied
spirits, or (2) they are due to some unknown
part of ourselves, some latent intelligent en-
ergy connected with ourselves which not only
produces the phenomena, but acts intelligently
and with consistent f raudulence, inasmuch as it
pretends to be an independent spirit which has
passed through physical death and now wishes
to communicate to show us here on earth that
death is really not the end. In short, the only
alternative to the spirit hypothesis lies in the
possibility of there being a chance that some-
thing may be discovered which will eventually
point to some other origin of the phenomena.
That is the alternative I had in mind all through
my investigations. As month succeeded month,
as each new phase of phenomena was presented,
as each new experiment was done, I always said
to myself, "Can this very determined work of
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
102 HINTS AND OBSEKVATIONS
seemingly intelligent beings be but a simula-
tion after all? Can it be all a fraud? Is it
possible that nature holds intelligences belong-
ing to ourselves or otherwise, which oould so
persistently deceive! What would be the ob-
ject of it all! Why should our subliminal con-
sciousness (supposing we possess such a thing)
carry out for us phenomenal demonstrations on
the lines of reason and intelligence, requiring
effort and system, for the object of deceiving
us!" No! It seems most unlikely and repel-
lant to our sense of the fitness of things. No-
body who has not delved deeply into psychic
phenomena can have any conception of its tre-
mendous variety and range. It includes teleki-
netic phenomena (movement of matter without
contact), apports, materialisation, the direct
voice, clairvoyance, clairaudience, trance, etc.,
etc. There are, in fact, dozens of phases of
psychic action, all consistent in the inference
to which they lead, namely, that man survives
death, and inconsistent on any other hypothe-
sis. I say that the evidence is even now great,
and I venture to predict that within a century
all doubts will have vanished.
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF SPIEITUALISM 103
It is a strange fact that the most vocif erous
critics of psychic phenomena and of psychical
things generally are those who have had the
very slightest personal acquaintances with
them; but this is no uncommon phenomenon.
It has always been so ; not perhaps in the scien-
tific world so much as in the world of common
every day affairs; yet the scientific world has
not been altogether exempt, as we see to-day
in the attempts of those, who from prejudice
or other cause, are anxious to put a period to
the researches of people wishing to advance into
an unexplored domain. These critics say a
thing is not, and therefore because they say so,
it is not. If that does not suffice, they say it is
impossible, and because they are self-appointed
judges of what is possible or impossible, it is
accordingly impossible. Lately, however, peo-
ple have begun thinking for themselves, and ac-
cordingly the critics altered their line of attack.
The psychic researchers are now easily satis-
fied fools. It is quite true that there may be
such things as psychic phenomena, but to sup-
pose that because a table rises and remains sus-
pended in the air for five minutes or more with-
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
104 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
out anyone touching it, or because a voice is-
sues forth from space and says it belongs to)
Mr. So-and-So who is not dead but on the con-
trary very much alive, to suppose from such
phenomena that the only explanation is a spir-
itualistic one, is the height of absurdity. Our
critics say that we have child-like, innocent
minds, and that when we- witness phenomena
we immediately rush to the easy conclusion that
they are produced by the spirits of the dead.
We gulp down these conclusions as a hungry
cat laps milk, and are as happy and contented
afterwards. The truth is, of course, that those
of us who have investigated the subject and
have accordingly little time to talk about it,
have done nothing of the kind. Speaking for
myself, and I know it is true of my brother
scientists who have entered this field, I have
been more careful not to come to premature
conclusions, I have brought more critical fac-
ulty to bear on the phenomena, than I have ever
done in ordinary scientific work. As a matter
of fact before coming to the conclusion that the
phenomena I have experimentally examined
were, in fact, produced by people who once ex-
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF SPmiTUALISM 105
isted on this earth, and who now exist in an-
other world, I have examined every possible
hypothesis so completely, I have analysed the
results of the experiments so minutely, I have
,dug into the heart of the matter so thoroughly,
that my critical faculty, and like most scientific
men I possess a strong one, is quite satisfied
as to the conclusion I have adopted. For me,
since I know, it is quite immaterial if a shoal of
badly-informed critics rail at the results I have
arrived at after years of closest experimental
study in the seance room, but it is sometimes
hard gn people who have not had my oppor-
tunities of research.
No man can say off-hand whether an unseen
world exists or not. That such a world does
not affect our senses is no argument for its non-
existence. That an expert in insanity has seen
no sign of it, is likewise no disproof, but rather
a verification, for the next state is an eminently
sane one. That certain charlatans have some-
times employed fraud in the production of spu-
rious phenomena does not affect the matter ; that
Mr. So-and-So who has done no investigation
says the phenomena will one day be capable of a
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
106 HINTS AND OBSEKVATIONS
* ' natural* ' explanation, is immaterial Those of
us who have put time and energy into the scien-
tific investigation of this thing have come prac-
tically to the unanimous conclusion that there is
no explanation having any chance of being true,
which does not presuppose the actual existence
of a world outside the physical, peopled, at any
rate in part, by beings who once lived upon this
earth.
As a matter of fact the gullibility and simplic-
ity of the critics of psychic phenomena are ex-
traordinary. To take one example; they try
to explain away the simple homely rap — that
comparatively common and a simple method of
signalling between the two worlds. But their
explanations are laughable. The critics of the
"rap," one of the most elementary of all psy-
chic phenomena, say that it is produced this
way and that way in the simplest manner con-
ceivable by nasty fraudulent methods on the
part of the medium. As a matter of fact I have
studied the rap rather exhaustively, placing the
medium on a weighing machine, obtaining im-
pressions of the rapping rod, and carrying out
various experiments of a mechanical and eleo-
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF SPIRITUALISM 107
trical kind, so that I know pretty well how the
rap is produced, not from hearsay or imagina-
tion, but from years of practical testing in the
seance room. As I have said, the ideas of the
critics concerning this same rap are amusing,
and of as much importance as a child's concep-
tion of the universe.
As the most voluble of the critics fails com-
pletely to understand the mechanism of the rap,
a comparatively trivial phenomenon, his at-
tempts to explain the higher phenomena, such
as materialisation or the direct voice, are ac-
cordingly more laughable still. Probably no
phenomena in nature have received such bizarre
criticism as the psychic. Some people, it would j
seem, would dictate to nature as to what phe-
nomena should be allowed and what not. They
call those of us who investigate these things
emotional and gullible, whereas, of course, the
shoe is on the other foot, and it is they who are
the lamentably emotional and gullible, inas-
much as they allow prejudice full play and at
the same time place an inhibition to investigate
upon the intellect.
In my opinion the greatest need to-day is the
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
109 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
discovery of a means of doing without the hu-
man medium in our intercourse with the next
state, that is to say, the invention of a purely
instrumental medium. The position, as it
seems to me, is that the vast majority of people
believe in the reality of psychic phenomena, but
are doubtful as to the interpretation. They
think that the entities behind the phenomena
may prove on fuller investigation to be subcon-
scious intelligences belonging to ourselves.
They argue that the human ego is probably so
complex in its make up, the human brain has
been relatively so little explored, and the new
facts of secondary and tertiary personality are
so astounding, that there can be no certainty
that even physical phenomena, such as material-
isation, or that which I have described in my
book, are produced by the spirits of the dead.
They* argue that there may be layers of con-
sciousness behind our objective egos, Which pro-
duce the phenomenal effects in a way as yet un-
known, but nevertheless discoverable and have
nothing at all to do with human beings in an-
other world. The argument is of course f alla-
cious, but it needs great experience of psychic
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
PHENOMENA OF SPIRITUALISM 109
things to see just why it is fallacious and this
experience can come to very few. If then we
can procure an instrumental means of communi-
cation with the next plane of being, one of the
greatest stumbling blocks to a general accept-
ance of the reality of the next life will imme-
diately vanish. Can it be donef
I am inclined to think the chances are fairly
even. I base my opinion on the certain fact
that a Una of continuity exists between the be-
ings inhabiting the next state and this, and that
those beings can act on matter in our world
in peculiar and as yet little understood ways.
These ways are discoverable, as I think I have
shown elsewhere. I am also fairly certain that
there exists a form of energy common to the
two worlds. Let this once be discovered, and
provided it can be obtained and used apart from
the human frame, the problem is solved. I
think, therefore, that the greatest need of the
present day is that means should be provided
to enable scientists to get on the track of this
energy and sift the matter to the bottom. No
amateur dilettante work is likely to be of the
slightest use. The investigators will have to
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
110 HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS
be equipped properly in the scientific sense, and
must be prepared to make the subject their life
study. This will entail the provision of a con-
siderable amount of money for the establish-
ment of laboratories thoroughly equipped that
all the apparatus which experience shows to be
necessary. But the field is so promising and
a successful conclusion to the search would have
such a profound effect on the history of the
world, that I have often marvelled the neces-
sary funds have not been forthcoming in abun-
dance long ago. I can think of no way in which
wealthy adherents to the psychic movement
could so well employ their surplus riches as in
the direction I have indicated.
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
Digitized by CjOOQ 1C
The borrower must return this item on or before
the last date stamped below. If another user
places a recall for this item, the borrower will
be notified of the need for an earlier return.
Non-receipt of overdue notices does not exempt
the borrower from overdue fines.
Harvard College Widener Library
Cambridge, MA 02138 617-495-2413
-die with care,
jr helping to preserve
ollections at Harvard.
Live Music
Archive
Librivox
Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland
Museum of Art
Internet
Arcade
Console Living Room
Open Library
American
Libraries
TV News
Understanding
9/11